Wednesday, December 31, 2008

NEW DELHI: Airlines are all set to woo back passengers who had given up flying due to high fares in last few months. On Sunday, Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya promised to `slash\' fares from January 1. While he did not quantify the cut, sources say it would be between 10% and 15%. Which means that in addition to last month\'s reduction of fuel surcharge by Rs 400, the fares could further drop between Rs 500 and Rs 1,000.

Jet Airways has decided to cut its basic fares by 15-40% to take on the competition with effect from Monday. So, overall fares of Naresh Goyal-promoted airline are expected to come down by 5-10%.

Air India (domestic) is also likely to announce a `sizable\' reduction in first week of January as the aviation ministry has specifically asked it not to do a cosmetic farecut job. Low cost carriers like IndiGo and SpiceJet are also working on offering attractive schemes, including low advance booking fares to get the AC II tier train traveller back in air.

Mallya said: Kingfisher will begin the new year on an aggressive note by slashing airfares. The current low prices of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) allow Kingfisher to pursue an opportunity to significantly increase market share by offering the finest five star flying experience at reduced fares.

Airlines had introduced fuel surcharge of Rs 200 in November 2005 when ATF was costing Rs 35,761 per kilo litre in Delhi. As ATF rose to its highest ever level of Rs 71,028 (riding on crude) in August, surcharge was in range of Rs 2,250 to Rs 3,100. But when ATF fell by more than half last month and is currently at a three-year low, airlines cited huge losses and effected a mere Rs 400 cut in surcharge and that too was forced by AI taking the lead.

There was increasing pressure on the aviation ministry that had ensured huge benefits for airlines to force airlines to lower fares now. Airlines must pass on the benefit of cheaper fuel and get passengers back in air. Saying that the dues of past few cost hostile months will not allow them to drop fares, will only mean a dramatic drop in passenger numbers in the lean travel quarter of January-March, said a senior aviation ministry official.

Interestingly, Mallya\'s statement of eyeing a bigger market share also indicates that the present cost environment is such that airlines are now close to break-even points and planning to begin the fight for leadership again. Last month, the Jet-JetLite combine led the market with a 26.7% share followed by Kingfisher (with Air Deccan(Kingfisher Red) merged in it) at 25%. AI (domestic) was at 18% and IndiGo led the LCC segment with 14.7% share, followed by SpiceJet at 11%.

Kingfisher Airlines has been conferred the \'5 - Star Airline Status\', the most recognized and prestigious award that honors airline Product and Service Quality Excellence, by Skytrax, the world\'s leading, independent travel forum and air travel information organization. The Skytrax survey is an independent survey conducted without any influence or communication to the airlines and is recognized as one of the most reliable ranking systems for airlines across the world.

The survey is conducted amongst all certified airlines in the world irrespective of size or nationality and every airline is ranked on the basis of the "delivered" front-line Product and Service quality - with Star Ranking levels representing "international" product and service standards. Star Ratings reflect the reality of delivered product and service supplied to customers.

Commenting on the honor, a visibly elated Dr. Vijay Mallya, Chairman & CEO, Kingfisher Airlines said, "Being recognized by Skytrax is an honor and we would like to thank our valued guests who chose to fly Kingfisher Airlines! It is gratifying to see that our approach of providing our guests with a delightful and unique flying experience has been recognized. "

The verdict of the research summary from Skytrax states that the young airline that has already captured the hearts of millions of Indians has been developed around the ethos of delivering the highest standards of customer service - a very well balanced product is now in place for Indian domestic routes, and standards of service delivery are extremely well ranked.

The real winning factor for Kingfisher Airlines is the quality of service being provided to its guests. The Kingfisher Airlines staff delivers high standards of service efficiency, and in a sincere and charming manner that makes the airline stand out from the rest.

Kingfisher Airlines has also been ranked India\'s No.1 airline in 4 independent surveys and is now the second largest airline in the country in under three years of launch. Kingfisher Airlines recently announced daily non-stop flights connecting Chennai with Trivandrum.

With the launch of these new services, Kingfisher Airlines will have 238 departures a day with a route network serving 41 destinations with a fleet of 39 brand new aircraft. The total number of weekly flights operated by Kingfisher Airlines across its entire route network goes up to 1656 with 17 flights operating out of Chennai.

Kingfisher Airlines has been conferred the \'5 - Star Airline Status\', the most recognized and prestigious award that honors airline Product and Service Quality Excellence, by Skytrax, the world\'s leading, independent travel forum and air travel information organization. The Skytrax survey is an independent survey conducted without any influence or communication to the airlines and is recognized as one of the most reliable ranking systems for airlines across the world.

The survey is conducted amongst all certified airlines in the world irrespective of size or nationality and every airline is ranked on the basis of the "delivered" front-line Product and Service quality - with Star Ranking levels representing "international" product and service standards. Star Ratings reflect the reality of delivered product and service supplied to customers.

Commenting on the honor, a visibly elated Dr. Vijay Mallya, Chairman & CEO, Kingfisher Airlines said, "Being recognized by Skytrax is an honor and we would like to thank our valued guests who chose to fly Kingfisher Airlines! It is gratifying to see that our approach of providing our guests with a delightful and unique flying experience has been recognized. "

The verdict of the research summary from Skytrax states that the young airline that has already captured the hearts of millions of Indians has been developed around the ethos of delivering the highest standards of customer service - a very well balanced product is now in place for Indian domestic routes, and standards of service delivery are extremely well ranked.

The real winning factor for Kingfisher Airlines is the quality of service being provided to its guests. The Kingfisher Airlines staff delivers high standards of service efficiency, and in a sincere and charming manner that makes the airline stand out from the rest.

Kingfisher Airlines has also been ranked India\'s No.1 airline in 4 independent surveys and is now the second largest airline in the country in under three years of launch. Kingfisher Airlines recently announced daily non-stop flights connecting Chennai with Trivandrum.

With the launch of these new services, Kingfisher Airlines will have 238 departures a day with a route network serving 41 destinations with a fleet of 39 brand new aircraft. The total number of weekly flights operated by Kingfisher Airlines across its entire route network goes up to 1656 with 17 flights operating out of Chennai.

New Delhi (PTI): The country\'s largest private airline, Jet Airways, on Wednesday announced special basic fares of Rs 250 on all its domestic sectors for purchases made at least 21 days prior to flight departure.

The booking and sale validity of this offer is from January 1 to January 31, 2009, the company said in a statement.

Its wholly-owned subsidiary JetLite will offer all domestic tickets for Rs 9 basic fare for purchases made at least 21 days in advance. The booking and sale validity for this offer is similar. All fares mentioned above are exclusive of taxes and surcharge.

Earlier this week, Jet reduced the basic fares on all its 45 domestic sectors by up to 40 per cent, bringing the Mumbai-Delhi economy class to Rs 2,000 and Bengaluru-Mumbai to Rs 1,220.

Air India and other major carriers like Kingfisher will also start booking tickets at lower prices from January 1.

While the state-owned airline has announced up to 82 per cent reduction in basic fares, Kingfisher is yet to quantify the reduction.

MUMBAI: Air travellers have some reason to cheer almost at the fag end of the

festive season.

The state-owned carrier Air India has cut fares by up to 82% in 20 sectors on Tuesday, mostly on metro routes, following a dip in aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices. �The airline is cutting basic fares by 35-82% on domestic sectors,� said a spokesperson of National Aviation Corporation of India (Nacil), which controls Air India.

Jet Airways� subsidiary, JetLite, too reduced basic fares on all its domestic flights with immediate effect. These fares will now be lower by up to 40%, Jet Airways said in a statement on Tuesday. A Mumbai-Delhi economy class basic fare will now be available for as low as Rs 750; the Mumbai-Chennai basic fare is at Rs 595; Ahmedabad-Goa is at Rs 245, while the Delhi-Hyderabad fare at Rs 999, without taxes.

On Sunday, Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya promised to slash fares from January 1. While he did not mention the exact percentage, experts believe it could be in the 10-15% range, which means fares could drop by Rs 500 to Rs 1,000. Jet Airways had already cut its basic fares by 15-40% with effect from Monday.

ET had first reported in its edition dated December 17 that Kingfisher and Jet have decided to cut basic fares on the domestic routes.

Meanwhile, budget airlines � SpiceJet and IndiGo � are likely to trim fares by 8-10% from mid-January. SpiceJet director Ajay Singh confirmed it to ET, but declined to divulge exact cuts. He said the cut will be �substantial� across sectors. �An announcement is expected shortly,� he added.

While some carriers earlier this month had reduced the fuel surcharge on the ticket price by Rs 200 to Rs 400, they did not touch the basic fare. Airlines had introduced fuel surcharge of Rs 200 in November 2005 when ATF was ruling at Rs 35,761 per kilo litre.

Oil companies have reduced aviation fuel prices seven times since September. The fuel is now sold at Rs 32,691.28 per kilolitre in Delhi, after prices were slashed by Rs 4,208.37 in the first week of December.

Industry experts said ATF prices would be further slashed on December 31 and January 15 by at least 15%, in line with the drop in global crude oil prices. In fact, Merrill Lynch had anticipated that crude prices will touch $25 a barrel in 2009. It was hovering at around $147 in mid-July this year.

Domestic air traffic has hit a record low this November, with just 30 lakh people flying compared with 38 lakh last November � a drop of 21.3%.

Falling ATF prices will help loss-making airlines reduce their operating costs. Besides, a cut in air fares will help increase the load factor, which has fallen from 75% a year ago to around 45% now, said an analyst with domestic brokerage firm. ATF accounts for nearly 45% of an airline�s operating costs.